


All Hail the Heartbreaker

by lit_chick08



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Origins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-03-28
Packaged: 2017-11-02 15:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lit_chick08/pseuds/lit_chick08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They all wore the same face, but no one could ever claim the Petrova girls were the same, least of all Elijah and Klaus</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Hail the Heartbreaker

_”And it's just my luck to end up getting stuck to everything you are” - All Hail the Heartbreaker, Spill Canvas_

Niklaus saw her first.

Elijah didn't know it then, but that would be important.

It wasn't often he and Niklaus ventured to the marketplace; servants did the majority of shopping for their family's estate and, that which they wanted to purchase themselves, was unavailable in the muddy market. But Niklaus had heard there was a stall which sold beautiful bracelets, and he wanted to buy Alexandra one for her birthday, as if a bracelet would make their baby sister forget her husband was dead.

“I do believe I am in love,” Niklaus declared as their eyes followed the girl in question as she stepped behind a booth, smiling widely at the men who were selling a variety of vegetables.

“I do believe you make that declaration every time a woman smiles at you,” Elijah countered, smiling wryly.

“You cannot tell me she is not the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. And I know that to be true because I have known far more women than you, and she is the most beautiful woman _I_ have ever seen.”

“Well, then, surely you must marry her. I am certain our mother has been eagerly awaiting the day you spot a peasant across a crowded marketplace and marry her without even learning her name. But do not fret: once you explain how beautiful she is, there is no way she will disown you.”

Niklaus shoved him playfully. “Should you not be kinder to your younger brother?”

“Should you not be more respectful of your older brother?” His eyes drifting towards the girl, Elijah stopped to consider what Niklaus was saying.

She _was_ the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Elijah estimated she was no older than seven-and-ten, painfully petite in the way so many of the young women from the poorer families were; long, perfect curls hung down her back, bouncing as she flitted around the booth, the skirt of her drab dress swirling around her ankles. He could admit this girl was beautiful; he could even admit this girl was more beautiful than his wife.

But if he acknowledged that to Niklaus, Elijah knew he would never hear the end of it.

“What are you doing?” Elijah asked as Niklaus began to make a beeline for the booth the girl's family was running.

“Learning her name so I can do our mother proud,” Niklaus retorted with a smirk.

* * *

Her name was Tatia Petrova. She was sixteen, a widow with a young daughter; her family owned and farmed a small piece of land on the edge of their village, selling what they grew at the market.

She was the very last woman their parents would ever have wanted Niklaus to fall in love with, so naturally his brother pursued her as if she was the key to his utter happiness.

“Tell me about Klaus's girl,” Alexandra ordered one afternoon as she and Elijah strolled arm and arm through the gardens.

Elijah smiled at his sister's use of the nickname their brother despised. “What has lead you to believe Niklaus _has_ a girl?”

Alexandra scoffed, tossing her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. “I swear, it is as if you two think I do nothing all day but stare longingly out the windows and do not notice what goes on around me. I am in mourning, not dead.”

“A thousand pardons, my dear.”

Slapping his shoulder, she snapped, “Do not patronize me, Elijah! I am a grown woman, not your little Lexi, and I deserve to know who Klaus is sneaking out at night to meet!”

Patting her arm comfortingly, Elijah said, “I _am_ sorry if I have hurt your feelings. However, I assumed he would have told you. With as close as you two are - “

“He has told me _nothing_! For twenty years, he feels the need to share every single detail about every single event, but now he is as silent as a church mouse! I swear, Elijah, I shall combust if I do not find out about this girl soon!”

Elijah laughed at Alexandra's dramatics, thoroughly amused. “I confess I do not know much about her myself. He is keeping her all to himself. What little I do know tells me she is more suitable as a mistress than a wife.”

“But he is keeping her a secret. The last time he took a mistress, he made sure Mother and Father found out. I think he might love this one.”

“Love or not, he will get bored,” Elijah predicted. “Niklaus only wants what we cannot have; you know that as well as I do.”

“I hope he does love her,” Alexandra announced, tilting her head towards the sky, the sun lighting her face. “Love brings humility, and our brother could use a little of that.”

* * *

“She is exquisite, Elijah,” Niklaus informed him as Elijah groomed his horse. Niklaus had ridden all the way out to Elijah's home, miles from their family's estate, and Elijah could not help the flare of irritation shooting through his body as Niklaus watched him work but did not offer to help.

“She would make a poor mistress if she was not.”

“This is more than just sex, brother. I am in love with her.”

Tossing his brush to the ground, Elijah snapped, “And to what end? So you love her? Wonderful! But Father will see you disinherited and whipped like an animal before he ever lets you marry some penniless farmer's daughter raising another man's child!”

Niklaus moved swiftly, grabbing the front of Elijah's shirt, jerking him around as if he was a rag doll. “If you ever speak of her that way again, I will end you, I swear!” As if he just noticed what was happening, Niklaus released him as quickly as he had grabbed him, taking deep breaths to calm himself. “I am going to marry her, Elijah. And you can either stand beside me or turn your back.”

Elijah watched as he disappeared out of the barn, the sound of retreating hoof beats echoing in his ears.

* * * 

It was a desire to keep his brother from doing something stupid which lead Elijah to ride out to the Petrov farm. There were several houses on the patch of land, a collection of people working the land, and Elijah spotted Tatia immediately, her child bundled against her chest as she pulled weeds from an herb garden.

“Tatia Petrova?” 

She looked up, a questioning expression on her face before her mouth twisted into a semi-amused smile. Getting to her feet, brushing the dirt from her palms, she declared, “You must be Elijah.”

“You were expecting me?”

“Well, Niklaus thought someone from his family would come to encourage me to end our association. He warned me that Mikael is quite tall and Joshua has a very heavy beard but that his brother Elijah was the most likely to come. He said I would know him by his very serious face and general lack of joy.” Smirking playfully, she added, “You do not seem quite as bad as he made you out to be.”

Elijah could not help but smile as he got off of his horse. “I suppose I should thank you for that.”

“Have you come to scare me off?” 

“I have come only to talk.”

Stroking her fussing daughter's back, she gestured to the house. “Come inside. I have to start supper. You can help me cut the vegetables for stew.”

“I do not know how to cook,” Elijah objected.

“Do not worry, milord. I promise it is so simple, even a man like you can do it.”

Elijah was certain he should be offended but there was something in her teasing smile which made him smile back, following her into the small home. The entire house was smaller than the sitting area in his own home, but it was cozier, felt lived in. As Tatia set the baby in a cradle and began to gather the ingredients for dinner, Elijah asked, “How many people live in this house?”

Tatia paused as if confused for a moment before answering, “This is my brother's home. My parents, they did not have the room for Sofia and me. I stay in the room with their children until I marry again.”

“How did your husband die?”

“That is a rather rude question, milord,” Tatia chastised. As Elijah began to apologize, embarrassed to have offended her, she held up her hand. “He was thrown from a horse he was trying to steal.” Mouth twisting in irritation, she declared, “He was a stupid man and an unkind one at that, but he gave me Sofia so I cannot besmirch his memory too much.”

“I am sorry.”

Handing him a knife and a potato, she asked, “Are you married, Elijah?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have children?”

Picking up the knife, trying to mimic the clean, easy slices she was making, he nodded. “I have three sons.”

After a beat Tatia added the potatoes they had cut into a pot before suddenly turning to him and announcing, “I have no intentions of marrying Niklaus. I just want you to know that.”

Startled, Elijah asked, “Why not?”

“You think because I am poor, I have been plotting how to ensnare a rich man to care for me?” Shaking her head, she said, “I care for Niklaus. He is a wonderful man and would make someone a fine husband. But I do not wish to separate anyone from their family, which is what a marriage to Niklaus would do. And my father, he has already arranged a match for me.” Smiling sadly, she assured him, “I am no threat to your family, Elijah.”

Getting to his feet, Elijah admitted, “You are not who I thought you to be.”

Eye crinkling in amusement, Tatia asked, “Who did you think me to be?” When Elijah did not answer, unsure how to respond, she chuckled. “You are nothing like your brother, do you know that?”

“I did, actually,” Elijah murmured, feeling inexplicably embarrassed by the comparison.

“I am telling Niklaus tomorrow of my engagement and ending our relationship. You do not have to worry. But I _do_ need to ask you to leave. My brother will kill you if he finds you here.”

Elijah nodded in understanding, bidding Tatia good-bye before mounting his horse to return home. It would take days before the memory of Tatia's smile would dissipate.

* * *

Niklaus showed up on his doorstep two days later, drunk out of his mind, slurring and ranting about Tatia. Elijah put his younger brother to bed, assuring him everything would be fine, that he'd meet a different woman who would make him happy.

“You do not understand,” Niklaus groaned, eyes bleary, genuine sorrow in his voice. “She is the reason I breathe, Elijah. She is everything.”

Elijah knew the appropriate response was to pity Niklaus, but instead he found himself incredibly envious because Elijah had never loved anyone the way Niklaus seemed to love Tatia.

* * *

“Every night he goes out, returns home so stinking drunk he barely knows his own name, and it is getting worse,” Alexandra divulged as she and Elijah sat in the parlor of their parents' home. “I am worried, Elijah. I fear this girl is going to be the death of him.”

“She is just a girl.”

“A girl Klaus loves,” Alexandra corrected. “I have never seem him this way; when I try to talk to him, he just pats me on the cheek like a child and tells me I am being silly.”

“Perhaps you _are_ being silly.”

“I am scared, Elijah.” Grasping his hands, she plead, “He listens to you.”

“And what do you want me to say?”

Obviously frustrated, shaking her blonde locks out of her eyes, she huffed, “I don't know! Just make it better, make _him_ better!”

_I am not my brother's keeper!_ Elijah wanted to scream.

But that would have been a lie, so Elijah nodded and assured his baby sister he would do whatever it took to make sure no harm came to Niklaus.

* * *

If he had never gone to the marketplace that day, the entire world would have been different.

But Elijah did not know that then, so he had no reason not to smile when he saw the familiar swirl of Tatia's hair around her shoulders, baby Sofia in her arms. For the rest of his life, Elijah would try to pinpoint why it was he left the booth where he was buying Naomi a gift to speak to Tatia, who was standing by the apothecary, gesticulating wildly with her free hand.

“I understand, sir, but I do not have that much and my daughter is very sick,” Tatia was saying as Elijah came up behind her. “I will trade you anything you would like, but I _need_ that medicine.”

“And I told you I don't trade!” the old man gruffly snapped. “Now take your ass - “

“How much for the medicine?” Elijah interrupted, clenching his fists in anger at the way this man was speaking to her. Tatia lifted her head in shock, and Elijah felt his anger blossom into full-blown rage as he saw the mottled bruises upon her beautiful face.

The apothecary quoted the price and Elijah shook the coins free of his purse, ignoring Tatia's cries that it was too much, that he did not have to do this. As he accepted the purchase, Elijah gently took hold of Tatia's arm and stated emphatically, “You are coming with me.”

Tatia's eyes went wide as she shook her head. “I cannot - “

“This is not a request, my dear.”

She nodded, sensing defeat, allowing Elijah to help her into the carriage. As she accepted the medicine from Elijah, putting a few drops into Sofia's mouth, she murmured, “Thank you for helping me. It was kind of you.”

“Did your husband do that?” 

Tatia's hand rose to her face, self-consciously brushing the most vicious looking of the bruises which ran along the line of her jaw. “That is none of your concern, sir.”

“No man should strike you.”

Heat flaring in her dark eyes, Tatia growled in return, “Do not presume to know anything about my life, milord. _My_ world is not the one you live in, and I do not appreciate you judging me for something I cannot control!”

“I am not judging you, Tatia,” he gently argued. “I am judging _him_. I cannot fathom why any man would dare to hurt someone like you.”

Tears filling her eyes, she dropped her gaze to the whimpering child in her arms. After several minutes, she whispered, “Why do you care? I am nothing to you.”

“But you are everything to my brother, and I take care of my family.”

“You're an honorable man,” she murmured as the carriage stopped before his parents' home.

He lead her straight to the parlor where Alexandra spent her days. His sister looked up from the sewing she was doing, smiling at Elijah, before her face quickly darkened at the sight of Tatia's battered face. Getting to her feet, she pasted on the smile Elijah recognized as fake and greeted, “Elijah, you did not tell me we'd be having company.”

“I did not know.”

“Your husband was - “

Alexandra laughed, holding up a hand to silence her. “Elijah is my brother, though oftentimes he believes himself to be my father. I am Alexandra.”

“This is Tatia,” Elijah stated, meaningfully locking gazes with his sister, who instantly gave a slight nod of understanding, “and her daughter Sofia. She is going to stay here tonight.”

Tatia opened her to speak but Alexandra beat her to the punch. “Does Niklaus know this?”

“I do not wish to be a burden,” Tatia stated emphatically, glaring at Elijah. “I am already going to be late reaching home - “

“And I have said you are not going home this evening.”

“You cannot keep me here! My husband - “

“I do not care what your husband thinks, says, or does!” Elijah exploded, startling both Tatia and Alexandra. Catching his breath, hurriedly reigning in his temper, he stated in a softer tone, “I believe it to be safer for you and Sofia if you remain here this evening. I am certain Alexandra would not mind the company.”

“I would be truly grateful for it,” Alexandra quickly chimed in. “My social circle is quite limited since returning home, and I have not a single niece to dote upon; six siblings and a passel of nephews. Have you ever heard anything quite so unfair?”

Smiling wanly, Tatia still shook her head. “I truly cannot remain here. You do not understand the consequences which will await me.”

“Elijah!” Niklaus's voice boomed as he entered the room. “When did you - “ Niklaus froze as he caught sight of Tatia. Elijah watched the play of emotions over his brother's face before he recognized which emotion won out: blinding rage.

The moment Niklaus turned on his heel, rushing from the room, Elijah knew what was going to happen. He barely heard Alexandra and Tatia's pleas to stop him; all he could focus on was the trouble Niklaus was about to cause, the lives he was about to destroy.

“Niklaus, wait!” Running, catching him around the bicep, Elijah spun him around only for Niklaus to push him away.

“Are you with me or against me, brother? You choose now!”

“What are you going to do?”

Every muscle in his body tense, he snapped, “I am going to make sure he never lays another hand on her. I will go through you if I need to make that happen.”

Elijah hesitated for only a moment before stepping backward. “Make him hurt.”

It was only for a moment but Elijah could have sworn Niklaus's eyes flashed yellow as he grinned. “I can assure you, he will hurt.”

Elijah lied to Alexandra and Tatia; he swore Niklaus was already gone, that he couldn't stop him.

He only wished he had the courage to go with his brother.

* * *

Niklaus returned after dark, waking Elijah from the chair he had fallen asleep in. Even in the muted light, Elijah could make out the wet, red stains decorating the front of Klaus's shirt. As he hurried over to his younger brother, Elijah saw that Niklaus looked dazed, lost like a child.

“What happened?” Elijah hissed, keeping his voice quiet.

“I killed him, Elijah,” Niklaus admitted in a trembling whisper. “I did not mean to but he is dead by my hand. Oh, Elijah...”

Leading him towards his chambers, Elijah roused one of the servants, ordering her to draw Niklaus a bath. As Niklaus shed his clothing, Elijah gathered it, throwing the blood-soaked garments into the crackling fire; as the servant hurried from the room, Elijah lead Niklaus into his water chamber, helping him into the steaming bath.

“There was so much blood,” Niklaus divulged as Elijah handed him a rag to scrub the blood on his skin. “I only meant...I wanted to punish him, to _scare_ him, run him off. But he called Tatia...I was so angry, angrier than I have ever been in my life, and something inside me...I could not stop hitting him. But then...”

“Then what?”

Eyes wide, reminding Elijah of when they had been children, he said, “Something happened to me, something strange. This terrible pain went through my body and it was as if...as if I was taken over by something unnatural.” Lower lip trembling, Klaus confessed, “I am scared, Elijah. I am so scared.”

Grasping his hand, Elijah declared, “You do not need to be afraid. I will make sure no harm comes to you. I will fix this.”

“I know you will.” Closing his eyes, sinking back into the water, Niklaus rhetorically asked, “What would I do without you, brother?”

Elijah sighed, smiling wanly before venturing downstairs to the parlor. Finding his father's best bottle of alcohol, Elijah did not bother finding a glass; instead he uncorked the bottle and began to chug. The burn of the liquid sliding down his throat brought tears to his eyes, his body unused to so much alcohol so quickly, but he didn't stop; he _couldn't_ , not when the death of Tatia's husband was on his shoulders. Elijah may not have made the killing blow, but he was the one who had forced Tatia to come with him, who hadn't stopped Niklaus from doing what he did. 

“Elijah?”

He choked briefly, wiping at the alcohol running down his chin, as he turned to face Tatia, who was standing in the entry way in one of Alexandra's nightdresses. It was too big on her, the hem dragging upon the ground, and she looked as slight as a child as he stumbled towards her.

“Is Niklaus okay? Is he - “ Studying his face, Tatia paused, realization sinking in. “He killed my husband, didn't he?”

“I am sorry,” Elijah rasped, clumsily stroking her cheek. “I did not mean for this to happen.”

Catching his hand, squeezing it in her own, Tatia stepped forward, her voice little more than a whisper as she stated, “You are an honorable man, Elijah. Whatever happened tonight...You must hold onto that.”

Voice thickening with emotion, he countered, “I am not an honorable man. I am not - “

Tatia pressed her fingers to his mouth, her eyes so swollen with emotion, Elijah could not look away. “You are the most honorable man I have ever known. Everything you have done for your brother, for _me_...I am barely more than a stranger to you and you have done more to protect me than my blood. How can that be anything _but_ honorable?”

He didn't know why he did it. For the next thousand years, he would wonder why he did it, why he didn't walk away or tell her where to find Niklaus. If he had just done that, maybe things would have been different.

But instead he brushed his lips against hers and sealed his fate.

Tatia stepped away, shaking her head minutely, indecision on her face. Elijah opened his mouth to apologize when Niklaus asked, “Am I interrupting?”

Both of them turned to see Niklaus at the foot of the stairs, his hair slicked back from the bath, anger starting to rise in his face. Elijah managed not to flinch between his brother's stare; Tatia immediately went to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his body as she announced, “I am so happy you are safe.”

Niklaus glared at Elijah over Tatia's shoulder even as he replied, “I would do anything to keep you safe, my love. You know that.”

Despite his drunkenness, Elijah mounted his horse and rode for home, needing to put as much distance as possible between himself and his brother's lover.

* * *

Three weeks after Niklaus murdered Tatia's husband, Elijah was mucking out the stables when Alexandra walked in, holding her skirts high off the ground.

“What _are_ you doing?” she asked, wrinkling her nose at the foul scent. “I found three of your servants outside and they said you ordered them out of here and told them to go to their quarters. Have you gone mad?”

Never ceasing his work, Elijah grunted, “A man should get his hands dirty, should earn his living.”

“Not men like you.”

Throwing his pitchfork to the ground, Elijah growled, “Why not men like me?! What makes me so above the men outside, from _any_ man that I cannot do the most basic of labor? We are no better than - “

“Elijah, stop!” Alexandra ordered, confusion twisted upon her features. “What has gotten into you? I spoke to Naomi and - “

“You have no business speaking to my wife!”

Rather than step back at Elijah's raised voice, Alexandra stepped into him, her eyes flashing with pure fire. “And you have no business speaking to _me_ like that! I do not care what is wrong with you, I swear I will smack you harder than a misbehaving child!” Regaining her composure, Alexandra sighed. “I am worried for you. I have not seen you since you brought Klaus's girl to our home and then left in the dead of night like a thief.”

“There is nothing...I do not...” Too tired to lie, too tired to do anything more than hang his head, Elijah said, “Leave it alone, Lexi.”

“I cannot leave anything alone, Eli, not when it comes to you.” Smiling wanly, she added, “I would embrace you but you smell terribly of shit.”

Elijah could not help but laugh. “That language is unbecoming of a lady.”

“Blame my brothers. They are _horrible_ influences upon their poor, widowed sister.”

* * *

Elijah awoke to Naomi shaking him, her voice high with fear, babbling about Niklaus; grabbing his robe, Elijah hurried downstairs to find Alexandra covering their nude brother with a blanket, ordering the servants to fetch water and the doctor.

“No doctor,” Niklaus gritted out, grasping Alexandra's arm like a life line. “Please, Lexi, do not leave me.”

“I am going nowhere,” their sister swore, tears shining in her eyes as she lied down beside him on the carpet, the silken curtain of her hair falling around their bodies like a cocoon as she began to softly sing a lullaby their nurse once used to soothe them. Elijah could do nothing but stare at the bewildering sight; Niklaus's skin was smudged with dirt, sweat still coating his body, and there was a wild look in his eyes.

Elijah carefully slid his arms beneath Niklaus's body, wincing as his brother cried out in pain at the movement. Alexandra followed them anxiously as Elijah navigated the hallways of his home, gently setting Niklaus on a bed in one of the spare rooms. One of the servants appeared in the doorway with water, and Alexandra lifted Niklaus's head to dribble the liquid past his lips. As Niklaus drifted off to sleep, Elijah grasped Alexandra by the bicep and lead her to the hallway.

“What happened?” he demanded, fear pulsing in his chest.

Alexandra shook her head, tears trickling down her cheeks. “The servants found him outside the doors just _screaming_ in pain. All he could say was that...”

“Was what?”

Dropping her voice to a whisper, she revealed, “He said he became an _animal_ , Elijah, that he transformed into some sort of beast.”

“A beast?”

Wrapping her arms around herself in a poor imitation of a hug, Alexandra tremulously sighed. “I have heard stories of this. The Smallwood clan, the villagers say when the moon is full, they become wolves.”

“That is just a story.”

“A story _you_ told me!”

Glancing at Niklaus's still body, Elijah declared, “I am going to ride to Father's house and speak to Tatia.”

“What?!” Rage filling her pretty face, Alexandra pointed towards the bed. “That is our brother lying there! We have no idea if he is going to recover and you want to go speak to that burden?” Seeing the anger flash in Elijah's eyes, she scoffed in disgust. “That girl will be the death of both you and Niklaus.”

Elijah did not believe in prophesy.

He should have.

* * *

Elijah saw the flames engulfing his parents' estate from a mile away. Digging his heels into his stallion's sides, he rushed forward, the light of the full moon on his back. As he leapt from the horse, he began to shout for his parents, pushing past the servants, screaming desperately for any sign of his mother or father. When he heard his name, Elijah spun to see his usually composed mother standing in her night dress, smudges of soot on her face, Tatia's daughter cradled against her chest.

“Mother, what - “

“They took her, Elijah. They burst into our home and they drug her screaming before setting the fire.” 

“Who?”

“Her husband's family. They wanted Niklaus but we could not find him. Is he - “

“He is at my home with Alexandra.”

His mother sighed in relief before stating, “I will take care of Sofia. Get Tatia back or we will lose Klaus forever.”

Elijah nodded in understanding, mounting his horse again. He was startled when his mother suddenly grasped the rein, holding him in place.

“And, Elijah?” Leaning forward, her face darkened with rage, his mother ordered, “Bring me their heads.”

* * *

He never was sure what happened next. One moment he was racing towards Tatia's home and the next, Elijah was twisting on the forest floor in extreme pain. It felt as if someone had set fire to his blood, burning him from the inside-out, and his mouth was in excruciating pain. He became aware of people carrying him somewhere, of bonfires burning so brightly, Elijah was forced to keep his eyes shut; there were so many voices, voices Elijah did not recognize. And then, above the din, he heard Tatia's voice, weak and thin, pleading, “Please don't hurt him. He's a good man. He does not deserve - “

Elijah heard the distinctive sound of a blade entering flesh, heard Tatia cry out; he forced his eyes open to see Tatia bound to a stake, a dagger in her gut, multiple slashes in the front of her nightgown indicating this was not the first cut this witch had made. 

“My son drowned in his own blood,” the witch spat, holding a milky, luminescent stone in her hands. “Your men wanted blood? Well, they shall have nothing _but_ blood for all eternity. But your Niklaus...he will _never_ know peace, and that is because of _you_.”

Elijah screamed as wet ropes were applied to his skin, burning like fire; he shouted and cried as life trickled out of Tatia. He looked at her, tears on his face, as her head lolled in his direction, her skin becoming a ghastly shade of white with every passing moment. And then she tremulously sighed, “Sofia...” before death wholly took her.

Elijah closed his eyes, waiting for his own death to come, when the screaming started. He saw movements of _something_ , their speeds so fast, he could not track them. But with every stop, there was another dead body, another corpse missing a head, a heart, being split in half. The witch had no time to protect herself; whatever the movement was, it wrenched the woman's heart from her chest, sending the organ to the dirt, warm and smelling of blood.

As the witch dropped, Elijah finally saw what the movement was.

It had been years since Elijah had seen Rebekah, his youngest sibling. Ever since their father married her off, she spent most of her time on her husband's estate, ruling with an iron fist. Elijah did not understand how she possibly could have reached his so quickly, how she even knew _where_ to find him. But, more importantly, he did not understand what was wrong with his sister's face.

She jerked the dagger from Tatia's stomach, bending over him to cut the ropes; immediately she cried out upon touching them before wrapping her hand in her bloody skirts and freeing him.

“What - “

“She made us monsters, Elijah,” Rebekah cut in, knowing what his question was before it even slipped past his lips. “She has cursed us. We have to go now.”

“I do not understand.”

Rebekah rose to her feet, wiping her hands on her ruined dress. “The witch sent away her daughter for protection; Father found her down the road and is holding her for questions. They sent me to get you while our brothers keep Niklaus in line.”

Elijah gingerly rose to his feet, his body screaming in protest. “Rebekah...”

For the first time, Rebekah's facade wavered, and Elijah glimpsed his baby sister beneath the monster's face. And then it was in place again as she stressed, “We have to go, Elijah. It's not safe anymore.”

He crossed to the stake, breaking the ropes and gathering Tatia's body against his; she was weightless in his arms, her dark hair spilling across his chest. The scent of her spilled blood made Elijah's stomach roll in hunger, and he twisted his head away in time to watch Rebekah jerk a necklace free of the witch's neck, fastening it around her own neck, a trophy of her kill.

“Take her head,” Elijah ordered impulsively, remembering his mother's words. Rebekah quirked an eyebrow in surprise before shrugging, wrenching the witch's head clean of her shoulders without the slightest bit of effort.

For the rest of his life, Elijah would never forget the expression of absolute devastation on Niklaus's face as he saw Tatia's body.

In retrospect, Elijah knew this was the moment his brother rejected his humanity.

* * *

They buried Tatia on a hill beneath a fruit tree. Elijah's father was questioning the witch's daughter, his siblings were trying to create a plan for their lives now, but Niklaus insisted on giving Tatia a proper burial while Alexandra returned Sofia to Tatia's family.

Elijah dug the grave all morning, digging into the earth with a vengeance; when Niklaus joined him on the hill, he carried Tatia, now dressed in one of Rebekah's finest gowns, her body wrapped in silk. Pressing a kiss to her cool lips, Niklaus set her in the coffin Elijah procured, covering her body with wildflowers from a nearby field. Elijah watched, his heart aching; when Niklaus stepped back to allow Elijah to say goodbye, Elijah did not know what to say, what to do. Instead he kissed her forehead and whispered a prayer he was certain the Gods would never hear as it was coming from damned lips.

When the earth covers her, Niklaus clasped Elijah's shoulder. “We are going to make the world pay for they did to her. We are going to burn the world.”

Elijah could not wait.

* * *

And then, five hundred years later, there was Katerina Petrova, and everything changed.


End file.
